Morocco National Team Ready Ahead of USA Friendly

Rabat – The Moroccan national football team will be looking to start their World Cup preparations with a win against the United States on Wednesday, June 1. The international friendly, which will be the fourth meeting between the two, is set to be played at the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Kick off is at 7:30pm local time, or 12:30am in Morocco, meaning fans will have to stay up a little later to catch all the action. Strong home support is expected at the 26,000-seater stadium, which opened in May of last year.

According to FIFA’s latest rankings, Morocco are currently ranked at 24th globally, with their opponents sitting 9 places above in 15th. However, Morocco has won in all three previous matches with the US, providing a good omen for the upcoming friendly. Their latest meeting came in 2006, with the Atlas Lions winning 1-0.

Morocco manager Vahid Halilhodzic will be using Wednesday’s match as a chance to see how his current squad play together. The squad list for Morocco’s upcoming matches this summer was released on May 25. While Bayern Munich right-back Noussair Mazraoui returned to the team after ending a months-long feud with the manager, Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech is still not part of the squad.

However, Mazraoui will not be available for this week’s match due to injury. He has been replaced by fellow right-back Mohamed Chibi. It is still hopeful that he will be available for later matches against South Africa and Liberia.

For the United States, big names such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Tim Weah will all be available for the friendly. The US have had mixed results recently, winning two of their last five, and failing to beat Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica.

Meanwhile, Morocco’s last two games came against DR Congo, with the Atlas Lions winning 5-2 over the two legs. The victory ensured Morocco’s qualification for this year’s World Cup, where they will face Belgium, Croatia, and Canada in the group stage.